Danishmend Ghazi

Danishmend Ghazi (1045-1104) was the ruler of the Danishmends of Asia Minor from 1071 to 1104, preceding Gazi Gumushtigin.

Biography
Danishmend Ghazi was born in 1045 in Isfahan, Persia, and he came to Anatolia to serve the Seljuk Empire. In addition to being an adviser of the sultan, he was also a commander, fighting at the 1071 Battle of Manzikert under Sultan Alp Arslan. His forces occupied nearly all of Anatolia after the battle, seizing Sivas, Niksar (Neocaesarea), Tokat, and Beyozu (Euchaita) in central Turkey. During the First Crusade in the 1090s, his Danishmends impeded the progress of the crusaders, losing at Dorylaeum but capturing Baldwin I of Edessa in 1100. In 1103, he captured Melitene in southern Asia Minor, and his death in 1104 led to his son Gazi Gumushtigin succeeding him.